Posted on 02/17/2003 10:24:08 AM PST by stainlessbanner
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Scientists say a leather wallet found on the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley may provide details about one of the eight men who died on the vessel during the Civil War.
Work on excavating the 3 inch-by-5 inch wallet began Monday, the 139th anniversary of the hand-cranked submarine's disappearance. The Hunley became the first sub to sink an enemy warship when it rammed the U.S.S. Housatonic in Charleston Harbor on Feb. 17, 1864. While the Union ship was destroyed, the Hunley and its crew were also lost.
Much of the scientific salvage work done so far has shown the technology and workings of the sub. Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, who chairs the Hunley Commission, says more focus will be placed on identifying each crewman.
McConnell says he wants to "lay these men to rest before the clock strikes the hour of the 140th anniversary."
The crew will be buried at Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston alongside 13 others who had previously lost their lives working on the Hunley.
Paul Mardikian, a senior conservator on the Hunley project, had worked on wallets recovered from the sunken Titanic that held documents, currency and business cards. "There are endless possibilities on what kind of information this wallet may hold," he said. "It is just too difficult to imagine that someone would carry a wallet with nothing in it."
The wallet was found near a crewman's shoulder bone, leading researchers to think it was likely carried in a jacket pocket.
The Hunley was raised from the harbor in 2000 and brought to a conservation lab on the old Charleston Naval Base.
Several personal items have been found so far by researchers, including a $20 gold piece, a diamond ring and a diamond broach carried by Hunley commander George Dixon.
Just the usual credit cards, personal photos, driver's license and pigs intestine.
Yes it closed in 94, its a (big)marina now (I was Living there in 94)
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